The Entity - A Remnant Knights Fanfic - Arc 2: Teacher's Pet
by Mystic-RK
Summary: It's been three years since the accidental battle which wrecked both schools. Both Headmasters have big plans for the rebuilding process, but a mysterious new teacher suddenly transfers in. What secrets does Dr Sergei hold, and is he truly what he seems?
1. Chapter 1 - The Shattered Dream

**Chapter 1 – The Shattered Dream**

"It cannot be helped. We had no idea it was coming..." snarled a deep voice through gritted teeth,

"This was a poor effort on your part. Remember it was _I_ who gave you this power," said a pair of ominous glowing red eyes in the darkness.

"M-my part!? Are you saying that _you_ could have foreseen it coming?!"

"That's enough!"

A flash of white and a shockwave flew through the air from the pair of eyes, briefly illuminating the source - a giant scythe and dark robes enveloping the pair of eyes which were like burning coals etched into the blackness. The first voice grunted and a few thuds were heard.

"Have you no common sense that if you attacked all of them head on like that, then _of course_ this would happen?!" raged the voice from the darkness.

The clouds suddenly shifted and the moon became visible for a split second, illuminating the scene in the Forest of Silence in full. Three hooded figures stood before another, a giant scorpion.

"W-what are you saying?" the Scorpion King said, surprised.

"I am _saying_, you **FOOL**, WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" The voice suddenly grunted in pain.

"I... I'm afraid I still don't understand."

In his mind he clearly saw that it had been his partner who had launched the initial attack, but decided to stay silent.

"It does not matter anyway. their school is in complete ruins. If there's such a thing as a 'perfect opportunity', it would be now," the voice calmed down slightly.

"Come, we must reform the Dark Oracles, and then find Dr Victor. Only then can we be assured of our victory. The schools will pay for what they did to your family. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve yet..."

A flash of purple, and then all was still again...

* * *

"Wake up!"

"Wake up already!"

"You're going to be late!"

Magics grunted in his sleep. That dream... it had been so vivid... he wanted to remember more... but this voice nagging him isn't helping at all.

"I _said_, WAKE UP!"

"Fire Blast..." muttered Magics in his sleep. A huge fireball whirled out of his hand towards the direction of the voice, which suddenly screamed something inaudible. The spell collided with a pink shield conjured up at the last second, and the impact threw the two of them away. Magics fell from his sleeping spot and onto a barbed _something_, which nearly depleted the shield of his armour.

"WHOA! I'm up, I'm up!" Magics yelled, flailing around slightly helplessly and shooting off spells in all directions.

It had been three years since that day Christina had unleashed the Wraith Lord on Kasmari - by accident. Both schools had been utterly devastated in a pyhrric victory against the Wraith Lord, and the repairs were still only half done. Magics looked around the Owl Campus, for which the Headmaster had great plans. "We must seize this opportunity," he had said, "to rebuild both campuses into something more wonderful than before." Before they knew it, large construction trucks had already entered the campus with various construction materials.

Nobody knew what happened to the Wraith Lord. As the final blow had been landed, there had been a flash of purple, and everything went quiet... For these past three years Magics had doubted that the Wraith Lord was actually dead, but just going with what everyone thought at the time was far simpler... Besides, he wasn't so sure himself. At least everyone had compromised into continuing with their training in case of another attack. That was good enough for now, and so far everything has been silent...

Classes were no longer held individually, but in the Gym as a whole - the perfect place, given that combat practise was all they seemed to do these days. Still, it can't hurt to be on your guard...

Magics wandered aimlessly about the campus, past rushing figures busying themselves with the construction, thinking about his dream...

A small, red seed hurled itself towards Magics, exploding at his feet and set him on fire - with his shield already reduced from the barbed _something_, which he had discovered was a giant fallen tree branch, he collapsed and was teleported to the gym. A voice behind him sighed with exasperation, and a figure in a pink bubble-like shield started to run towards the gym.

"Dragon Lushen has taken down Owl Viewtifulboi! The score is now tied at 372 each!" the announcer cried enthusiastically, while the gym broke into cheers.

Magics intended to steer himself towards the voice, but before he could do so, he was kicked from behind, and landed on his face. A figure pinned him to the ground, flipped him over, and held a small red marble-sized object in his face.

"This is the thanks I get for trying to wake you up?!" Kilai was furious.

"Nobody asked you to..."

"Watch where you're sleeping next time!"

Magics was secretly glad nothing worse had happened to him. DayBunny was still on the Nurse's healing pad from the last time he decided to cross Pypski. He shoved Kilai's hand away from his face, and stood up.

Kilai dropped the Fire Seed in surprise, which fell to the floor next to them both...

"I want one of those shields..." grunted Magics as he got up from the floor, having been teleported a second time in the last ten minutes.

"You should've taken Priest training then, instead of Elementalist," Kilai replied smugly. "It looks like they're coming out," she gestured towards the main area of the gym.

"Magics! Hey, Magics!"

Sahara ran towards MagicsOwner and Kilai nervously.

"Hey, Magics, have you got a moment?"

Magics looked somewhat taken aback, but agreed nonetheless.

"Anyway, Magics, I have to find Sturm, see ya!" Kilai yelled, as Magics and Sahara walked away. Magics raised his hand in a goodbye gesture, and Kilai vanished into the gym.

Sturm had been in solitary confinement ever since the incident, but was scheduled for release in a few days. However, all of his abilities had been locked away, and YoukiKonpaku still kept his staff as a 'momento' in his rebuilt dormitory room.

"Listen... Magics... there's something I've been wanting to tell you..." Sahara began nervously.

"S-something to tell me?" Magics looked somewhat horrified. "Y-you know, I'm not really interested in... _that_ kind of thing..."

"Oh..." Sahara looked slightly disappointed, but then regained her composure. "No, I mean... did you have a weird dream yesterday?"

Magics looked a bit shocked. He tried to recall the dream, but the details were slipping out of his mind.

"I can't seem to remember... it seemed to be something about the Forest of Silence?"

"Yeah... I had it too, I wonder if anyone else?"

"Kilai doesn't seem to think so."

"I did," came a voice, as the majority of the spectators began to arrive. Magics turned to see Kari ShadowWolf approaching them. "A strange dream about the Forest of Silence... but it can't be. That was three years ago, I'm sure it isn't..."

"I hope so too..." Magics said, as some of the dream's details came back to him thanks to Kari.

"But it's strange... Nobody else seems to be having the dream except us..." Sahara looked perplexed. Maybe, she thought, it had something to do with them being Elementalists...

"We should probably tell the Headmaster," Kari suggested.

"Speaking of which, does he even have an office yet?" Magics said. The last time they heard, both of the Headmasters were still camping beneath the stars - the construction of the main building had been delayed.

"I think they're on the Dragon Campus somewhere," Sahara replied, as she ran back into the crowd. Magics and Kari had no choice but to follow.

* * *

They found both of the Headmasters at the gate of Dragon School, looking into the distance, and raced towards him - but before they could, someone else knocked all three of them aside, holding something in both of their hands. A closer look revealed it to be a slightly burnt pie.

"Hey, Kaly-" Sahara began, but too late. The figure had ran too far.

"It looked like something important came up," said a voice to their left. JapansAce stood watching Kalysto, toaster in her hand, wondering if she should throw it at the latter or not. "Think she can dodge this?"

"N-"

Before a word came out, the toaster was already out of her hand, hitting Kalysto square in the back, which made her fall over into her pie.

"Oops... bye!" JapansAce hurriedly ran in the opposite direction to Kalysto as fast as she could. Seconds later, a bright orange beam of light followed.

The three of them reached the two Headmasters looking out into the distance. However, before they had a chance to tell anyone about their dream, there was a roaring noise in the distance. A few minutes later, a hoverbike approached the school.

"Ah, so he's finally here..." the Dragon Headmaster remarked.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," the rider dismounted his hoverbike and turned to the Headmasters.

"Ah, Dr. Sergei. Welcome!" the Owl Headmaster said enthusiastically.

"Yes, welcome," the Dragon Headmaster agreed. "We look forward to working with you."

The Headmasters then spotted Sahara, Magics and Kari.

"Ah, here are some of the students. We'd like you to meet Dr. Sergei. He'll be a new instructor in the coming semester, after all of the repairs in the gym are completed."

Dr Sergei looked at Magics, Kari and Sahara, and something seemed to sparkle in his eye.

"Headmaster, we have something to tell you-" began Sahara, but Dr Sergei interrupted her.

"I'm sure any questions can also be addressed to me as well? After all, I'm going to be your new teacher, and therefore I would like to get to know you better."

"I'm sorry, the Dragon Headmaster and I have some business to attend to with regard to repairs. I trust you three will show Dr Sergei around?" the Owl Headmaster asked, oblivious to Sahara. After all, Dr Sergei had a point. Bonding with the students was vital.

"S-sure..." replied Kari, not that there was any choice in the matter.

The two Headmasters then walked away into the campus, leaving Dr Sergei and the students alone together.

"Now... there was something you wished to tell me?" Dr Sergei asked.


	2. Chapter 2 - Dr Sergei

**Chapter 2 – Dr Sergei**

The roar of a bike in the distance resounded over the Dragon School campus, drawing all eyes towards the five figures at the gate.

"Who'd you think that is?" Hatake turned.

"Probably someone Day managed to charm," said Pypski, not looking at all.

"Oh, so his charm works _that_ way too?" HidekiHinata piped in. "Guess we better watch out then, Hatake!" He punched Hatake amicably on the shoulder.

"What-?" Pypski turned. Her eyes glimpsed over the Nurse's healing pad, upon which DayBunny still laid in a futile attempt to recover his ability to procreate, and found the hoverbike at the Dragon School campus gate.

"Who's that?" she echoed Hatake.

The two Headmasters then moved away from the gate.

"I'll go ask," Hideki volunteered himself, running past Tamani, who was discussing the recent gym battle between Lucien and Viewtifulboi with StrangerD3RK.

* * *

"Oh, him? He'll be a new instructor when the new semester starts. His name is Dr Frank Sergei," the Dragon Headmaster replied. "As soon as the gym repairs are over, we can resume lessons. It shouldn't be too long now, what with everybody helping."

"His resume had a lot of detail," the Owl Headmaster added. "I'm sure he'll be a good teacher. He's been through a lot of experience both on and off the battlefield. If I recall right, he used to work for some science corporation some years back. Probably a decade ago now."

"Someone who's got such a highly detailed resume has to have a lot of experience," the Dragon Headmaster said confidently. "Even if it _does_mean that he's getting on a bit in years."

"He doesn't look that old," Hideki noted, peering at Dr Sergei.

"You're right," the Owl Headmaster gave a slight chuckle. "I can't think how he can have such a detailed resume at his age, but I guess there are people like that out there too."

"Yeah... I suppose," Hideki agreed, but still felt slightly uneasy, nevertheless, he rejoined Hatake and Pypski.

* * *

"Just a bit more to the left... bit more... little bit more... there, that's good!"

The wooden beam landed with a thud on top of the scaffolding in the gym. Yuumei and Cristina both sighed in relief as they lowered it into position.

"Great job, we're nearly done," encouraged Domennico. Cristina retrieved a cookie from her pocket and started to eat it, but lost her balance and shrieked as she fell from the scaffolding. Dom quickly raised his staff and summoned a pink shield around her, which shattered upon landing, but leaving Cristina herself unharmed.

"T-thank you," Cristina murmured, before returning back to her cookie.

Yuumei peered over the edge of the scaffolding. "Is she ok?"

"Yeah, no problems," came the reply.

"Ooh, that looks like fun, I wanna try too!" Rhainbow shouted, and promptly jumped off the scaffolding. She didn't utter the incantation in time, however, and landed on the floor in a heap. Dom facepalmed and quickly healed her energy shield back to maximum.

"O-oops..." said Rhainbow sheepishly, while Dom facepalmed again.

"You're lucky we're nearly done," came Gemini's voice as he carried more materials over, his claws leaning against a corner of the scaffolding. "By the time the new semester starts tomorrow all we need to do is safety checks... H-hey, leave that alone!"

Rhainbow had started playing with Gemini's claws, and startled by his voice, nearly cut her finger against the blade. She quickly put it down and resorted to trying to get Cristina to 'share' her cookie.

The door to the gym suddenly opened, and Dr Sergei came in, along with Magics, Kari and Sahara. The three then promptly began giving him a tour of the area.

"So this is the gym, eh... hmm, not bad... and is this where you come to show your abilities?" Dr Sergei asked.

"Yeah. There's also the Arena, and Marble Battle if we want to test our teamwork too," replied Sahara.

"That's interesting. Can I perhaps see a quick demonstration?"

The students looked at each other nervously. "I'm not sure if we're the best candidates for that," Sahara said eventually.

"You want to see Viewtifulboi vs Lushen, the two of them have been duelling forever."

"Really? If it's ok, can I see them?" Dr Sergei enquired.

After a few minutes, Viewtifulboi and Lushen appeared. Lushen had his claws ready, and Viewtifulboi began to load bullets into his gun.

"For the 745th time... Viewtifulboi vs Lushen!" came the announcement.

"J-just be careful you don't knock into the scaffolding..." Dom whimpered, getting out of their way, while Cristina hurried into a safe spot in the gathering crowd near the entrances. This momentary lapse of attention caused Rhainbow to catch up and take a bite out of her cookie and she gave a small cry of terror, before shoving the rest of the cookie into her own mouth.

* * *

A distant bell chimed throughout the gym, marking the start of the match between Viewtifulboi and Lushen. Both began at opposite ends of the gym, and Viewtifulboi began to circle the clear zone towards Lushen as soon as the bell rang.

As quick as a flash, Lushen sprinted towards Viewtifulboi, who was ready for him. He held both of his guns together and fired a bullet which left a bright orange beam of light trailing behind it, slowing Lushen back down. Still avoiding close-range combat, Lushen then slashed his claws downwards in an X shape and the shockwave hurled towards Viewtifulboi, who just managed to jump to one side. Viewtifulboi aimed both of his guns from the floor and tried to hit Lushen's weak spot. One of the bullets was expertly dodged by Lushen, but a second one found its way between Lushen's legs. The impact was enough to make Lushen double over in pain, but before Viewtifulboi knew it, Lushen had recovered and leapt towards him again. As he tried to move backwards out of the attack, one of Lushen's claws snagged him and caused him to topple over. Not to be fazed, Viewtifulboi quickly threw light bombs at Lushen, attempting to blind him. A quick look at his energy shield's duration told him he had around 60% left before he was pinned to the ground, and Lushen's was around 75%. Viewtifulboi used this opportunity to quickly regain distance between himself and Lushen, firing two more bullets at weak points in Lushen's armour and effectively slowing him down again. Another quick look at Lushen's shield meter, and it was down to 65%.

Good... if this keeps up I can win, Viewtifulboi thought to himself, but he knew that it was too soon to lower his guard. He had to end the fight quickly, otherwise he would be too tired to use his techniques any more. Besides, he also had Lushen's special attack combo to watch out for...

Lushen had again recovered and this time Viewtifulboi was the one who dashed towards him. He jumped into the air and fired a bullet which impacted the ground with such force that Lushen was thrown away by the aftershock...

Lushen was knocked back into the crowd near to Dr Sergei. In the confusion, Dr Sergei threw himself backwards into the scaffolding of the gym, causing it to collapse. There were hasty healing spells and teleportations from the crowd as the scaffolding brought itself down on the spectators, but Viewtifulboi and Lushen continued in their rivalry, and the gym still remained thankfully intact, and the incident went without much more notice. Dr Sergei swore underneath his breath as he turned his gaze back to the duel.

Lushen had seized his distance advantage, and sent another X-shaped shockwave towards Viewtifulboi, who was unable to dodge it this time. Finding an opening, Lushen quickly honed his dodging reflexes and leapt again towards Viewtifulboi, who, frozen in place, knew that Lushen was about to use his combo on him - and could only attempt to slow down Lushen in what he knew would be game over if Lushen approached this time. Lushen managed to dodge a few bullets with expertise, although was hit nonetheless; and in next to no time, he was next to Viewtifulboi. Adrenaline surged through Lushen's body, emitting a radiant orange aura as he tried to connect his claws with Viewtifulboi's armour, but Viewtifulboi was already unfrozen, and leapt out of the way before further harm could be done. Another quick glimpse at the shield meter showed himself at 40%, and Lushen at 50%.

Having successfully evaded most of the damage, Viewtifulboi's relief was short-lived. Lushen immediately leapt at Viewtifulboi, followed with a quick midair spin attack which recovered some of his shield's energy. However, Viewtifulboi had already thrown another flashbomb at Lushen and slowed him down, preventing more serious damage. Before pulling away this time, however, Viewtifulboi leapt into the air and fired barrage after barrage of bullets into the ground, preventing Lushen from using any of his techniques. He quickly stood back and took a few free shots at Lushen, recovering some of his stamina in the process. Lushen's energy meter was now down to 30%, and Viewtifulboi himself was at 35%.

Lushen came to his senses once again and relentlessly dived at Viewtifulboi claws first, who wasted no time in trying to slow him down - but the shot came too late. Lushen weaved between Viewtifulboi's two shots and tore his claws into Viewtifulboi's armour, causing his energy to gradually leak out. The next thing he knew, Lushen had raised his foot and brought it down on Viewtifulboi's chest, forcing him backwards and onto the floor. Seizing this chance, he aimed, this time deliberately, at the one spot he knew Lushen would have trouble recovering from if he was hit - and fired. Lushen was also brought to the floor in agony, but then both quickly jumped up and Lushen threw himself at Viewtifulboi again. Another glimpse at their energy levels as Viewtifulboi's energy reserves stopped leaking showed Viewtifulboi at 20%, and Lushen at 15%.

It was now a matter of time. Lushen now began to fight defensively, attempting to recharge his shield whenever he can. Viewtifulboi did all he could to slow and blind Lushen, while trying his best to avoid any further attacks. Something in Lushen's mind clicked, and he quickly sprinted away from Viewtifulboi. Suddenly taken aback, Viewtifulboi shot a few bullets after him, trying to slow him down, but they were all dodged as Lushen ran out of his range. Frustrated, Viewtifulboi gave chase.

Lushen had been hoping for this. He quickly fired another X-shaped energy wave at Viewtifulboi, again freezing him in place. This time Viewtifulboi was ready for him. As Lushen jumped in for the kill, Viewtifulboi threw another flashbomb into his face. As he felt himself unfreezing, he quickly leapt into the air and fired another barrage of bullets onto Lushen. Viewtifulboi chanced another look at their energy meters - he himself was at 5% while Lushen's was at 7%. He quickly fired a few more quick shots at Lushen, negating Lushen's previous recovery strategy, before pinning one of his guns straight to where the shielding device was embedded into his armour, and prepared to pull the trigger.

Lushen was caught this time. His energy was so low that it would not survive another head-on attack. Running was out of the option - he would be incapacitated before he knew it...

He knew that Viewtifulboi would not miss this final shot - even he knows that it was impossible to miss at point-blank, or near-point-blank range, for that matter. There was no time for fancy combos... no time to sprint, and impossible to evade. Adrenaline was also out of the question. With all of his defensive techniques temporarily disabled, There was only one solution...

Lushen pulled back his claws and dived ferociously at the spot in Viewtifulboi's armour behind which was his shielding device, and managed to lacerate it. At the same time, Viewtifulboi pulled the trigger and lodged a bullet into that of his opponent's...

Lushen's shielding device dissolved Viewtifulboi's bullet, but nonetheless fired an electrical surge through its wearer, pinning Lushen to the floor. At the same moment, the remnants of Viewtifulboi's energy remaining in his own shielding device leaked away, flooring the dual gunner as well.

"The 745th match ends in a draw!" the announcement cried, as bells finally tolled the dramatic duel to a close.

"That was absolutely amazing!" Dr Sergei approached the pair as the gym erupted in cheers again. "I can see that the students here have talent!"

Dom was staring at the scaffolding in disbelief, and sighed to himself. At least there were no further consequences...

* * *

Dr Sergei snarled underneath his breath as he laid in his new office. He had been short sighted this time... but he swore to himself... never again shall he be this careless... it wasn't like him to undergo such a lapse of judgement... this shall be his one and only failure...


	3. Chapter 3 - The Lost Momo Fruit

**Chapter 3 – The Lost Momo Fruit**

The gym had been successfully rebuilt, and Sturm was released from his solitary confinement in time for the new semester, and to everyone's dismay and amazement at the same time, DayBunny had once again miraculously recuperated from one of Pypski's epic something-or-other-to-the-groin shenanigans. As everyone hurried to the gym for their first lesson with Dr Sergei, StrangerD3RK and Kari were in the dormitory.

"Kari, seen my bag of momo's...?" Derk yelled, while looking all over her room. She didn't want to be late for the first lesson of the semester, but she can't leave without both her Momo fruits and her whip. Kari was helping her to look for them, but so far, no luck.

Derk's head popped up over the side of her bed, her pink hair bobbing up and down. She then hurried over to her bookcase, and partially pulled out a certain book, which triggered a section of the wall to open, revealing a key pad. She quickly keyed in a certain stream of numbers, which caused an iris scanner to reveal itself on the wall opposite. She scanned herself with the iris scanner, causing a compartment of her roof to open, which dropped a key onto the floor. She took the key and went back to the bookshelf, pushed it aside, revealing a safe. With the key, she unlocked the safe, and took a complicated-looking device - which resembled a remote control with many more buttons than usual - from amongst her giant stash of Momo fruits. She then pressed the buttons in a certain order, which caused a section of the floor to descend, revealing staircases leading below the ground.

"Am going to check my cellar...!" came Derk's voice.

"I'll keep looking up here, then," was Kari's reply.

Derk headed down the helical staircase. One hundred... two hundred... three hundred... she lost count of the number of stairs as she tried to prevent herself from collapsing to dizziness. After what seemed like hours, she finally reached the bottom. Ahead of her was a fingerprint scanner and a locked door. She took a deep breath and held her finger to the scanner.

The door opened, revealing a network of lasers. Derk weaved between the lasers with expertise, dodging all of them. The lasers became even denser and harder to navigate the further she went, and eventually, when the lasers were so tightly packed to the point where she couldn't navigate any further, she took out her gun and fired a single bullet at a precise parabolic angle. The bullet continued through a parabolic gap in the lasers until it struck a certain button on the far wall, at which she was aiming, which disabled the laser field temporarily and opening the other door. She seized her chance and quickly ran through the opening of the door, which slammed shut behind her, reactivating the laser field.

She emerged into another section of the long corridor, and moved forwards. A whip shot out of the opening in the wall to her left, which she dodged expertly. A tranquiliser dart fired at her from the ceiling, but this was also made to miss. A sniper turret sat in a corner of the corridor, its infrared tracer leaving a telltale line as it followed Derk's movements. As Derk progressed further, weaving between the bullets, whips and darts, she thought that she was probably going to be late for the lesson... but then her thoughts turned to the missing bag of Momo fruits, and she resolved to get to her cellar no matter what, to try to retrieve it.

* * *

Dr Sergei walked into the gym, where the students were gathering for their first lesson.

"This should be interesting," remarked Pypski, looking sideways at Hatake, Hideki and DayBunny. "Good job on the charming, Day," she joked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Day's face was a blank, while Hatake and Hideki burst out chuckling.

"Hey, what does it mean?!" DayBunny turned to his cousin BlissBunny, who was sitting on his oher side. Bliss avoided her cousin's gaze and stifled a chuckle as well.

"Oh... nothing, good job, Day~" came the reply.

"Hey, tell me!" sighed Day, frustrated. He was finally out of the Nurse's healing pad, and now this...

At that moment, Kari ran into the gym, panting heavily, but there was no sign of Derk. She ran past Day and Bliss, still arguing over something. She found her way over to the owls and sat down near Magics and Sturm.

"Where've you been?" Magics asked casually.

"Lesson's nearly starting," Sturm said.

"H-have you guys seen Momo?" Kari panted.

"Derk? Nope, why?" MaximusArk, who was sitting in front of Kari, turned around to face her as he replied.

"Oh... I was hoping she came here, she couldn't find her bag of Momos and we were looking for it... she's not here yet?"

"I'm afraid not," Magics said. "She's probably gone to her cellar, right? I know she keeps security ridiculously tight around that place."

"That's only because you went through her bag of Momos..." Sturm replied.

"She can't _still_be holding that against me, right?! I mean, it's been three years already..."

Before anyone else can reply, the door to the gym opened, and Dr Sergei entered. He stopped when he reached the group of students, who were now sat by school, and cleared his throat.

"Ahem... good morning, everyone. My name is Dr Frank Sergei. I will be a new instructor at your schools from now on. Feel free to approach me with any questions or concerns you may have. As I am not yet familiar with any of you, please forgive me if I fail to remember your names for the first few days.

"As for me, I have a solid background in studying Marble Energy. I have previously worked in a scientific lab dedicated to Marble Energy research, and I am sure that I can enlighten your minds on such matters as well. However, we must not lose focus that the main point of these lessons is to get you trained in proper combat, should the day come again when you will need it.

"Therefore, I want you to split into teams of five within your schools. Two teams will battle it out here in this gym. But this is by far not a normal five-on-five. I have set up a virtual reality field generator in order to simulate absolutely any situation possible. You must be able to withstand fighting in any condition at all. But be warned, this is a virtual reality field which will encompass the both schools. As long as the field is active, any virtual reality will seem very real indeed.

"Any questions?"

Everyone sat in silence, each wondering what it would be like to experience such a lesson.

"How long ago did you work in your lab?" piped up a voice from the Dragon school. A girl with two guns strapped to her belt had raised her hand and asked. Dr Sergei looked slightly taken aback.

"Natsu..." Runaria, who had been sitting next to the girl, looked slightly disturbed at her question, but to her surprise, Dr Sergei answered.

"I think it was around five or ten years ago. I was researching the effects of Marble Energy and its effect on the environment."

Natsuki Kuga seemed content with this answer, and Dr Sergei looked around the gym, but nobody wanted to ask any more questions.

"No more? Very well then. Split into your teams, and let's begin!"

And thus the silence was broken as the students split into groups of five.

* * *

Derk sighed as she pressed her finger onto a scanner to activate the door. The infrared tracer of the sniper turret was fixated onto her shielding device, but with the firing mechanism temporarily jammed with a bullet, she could at least breathe easily as she progressed onto the next security mechanism..

The door slid open and she entered. The red dot vanished as she moved out of range of the sniper turret on the ceiling, and the door slammed shut behind her again. She could hear the sound of spells being cast some distance above her, which meant that she was probably directly underneath some part of the gym. She suddenly realised that she was late, and that made her hold on to her whip a little tighter in case any retribution came her way later on when she returned to her dormitory.

She was in a room with a control panel and a massive hole in the floor. After making sure nobody was looking (as if anyone would be), and with an enormously embarrassed look on her face, she began to sing. At first it sounded like a nursery rhyme about a certain girl and her lamb, but the lyrics had been altered so that Derk's own name was in place of the girl's, and "Momo fruit" was in place of the lamb. As she half-sang half-stammered the song, her face became redder and redder, until she finally finished. From the ceiling fell precarious platforms forming a path across the chasm. She ran across the path as fast as she could, as the platforms crumbled underneath her feet. With a final jump, she landed on the other side, and dodged another tranquiliser dart fired from the door. Derk then slammed her finger down on a fingerprint scanner nearby, which doubled as a button. A trapdoor opened beneath her feet.

"Oops...!" She yelled as she fell into the trapdoor.

* * *

In the gym, the class was well and truly under way. Dr Sergei had activated the virtual reality field and set it so that meteors were raining down on the gym, which now laid in ruins underneath a crimson sky. The ground itself resembled

Magics aimed a disruption field towards MaximusArk, who managed to jump out of its way, and into the path of a falling meteor, so that the disruption field hit Sturm instead. Despite Sturm and Magics being on the same team, Magics for one didn't seem to mind, except for a half-apologetic hand gesture. Sturm restored his energy with a healing spell in equal silence after his ears stopped ringing from the disruption field, and he regained the usage of his spells, while Max rolled on the floor, trying to put out the fire, his energy meter decimated by the meteor impact. Nearby, Natsuki, teamed with JapansAce, Kalysto and Usui, were up against Day, Bliss and Pypski - their other two team members had each been taken out by fiery meteors and pinned to the floor.

Frank Sergei grinned, and took out a device from one of his pockets - the same device he used to activate the virtual reality field. He coded in a few sequences, and immediately the weather changed from a meteor shower to a thunderstorm. What used to be red was now a dark gray as the rain torrented down on the duelling teams, which was enough to force Cpt. Tatsumiya and Alyse, who were duelling nearby, to stop their exchange of bullets. As the Captain tried to wipe his glasses clean, Sergei fiddled with the controls again, and the temperature plummeted, which left the students resorting to use flame spells to attempt to warm themselves up, and effectively turning all the Elementalists into pyromancers. The Captain tutted impatiently and threw his now-frozen glasses aside as Alyse shot a flaming bazooka towards him, which he just manages to dodge, and returns her favour with a few flashbombs.

Frank Sergei wasn't done. He plummeted the temperature even further, so that the torrential rain was frozen and the gym ground to an icy halt...

* * *

"Are you sure they're alright?" the Dragon Headmaster peered towards the gym from atop of a hill in Hillville. The gym now somewhat resembled a skating rink.

"I'm sure they're fine," the Owl Headmaster replied, being his usual ditzy self. "It's good practise, after all."

"Yes, but even so..." the Dragon Headmaster was unconvinced.

"It's fine," stressed the Owl Headmaster, not even looking at the gym rink. "They need to be prepared for anything at all... but if you're _this_ insistant, I guess I'll go and check on them."

The Owl Headmaster reluctantly headed towards the rink.

* * *

"Hey, isn't this going a bit too far?!" yelled Bui in frustration as he was forced to Asgard Smash the ice in front of him just to be able to move around. "What's the big deal?!"

The Virtual Reality field was now Dr Sergei's sandbox. He could do whatever he wanted to now that he had control of everything. He wouldn't miscalculate... not this time...

"Aww, and Momo's missing out on all the fun here," Kari sighed. "I wonder if she's made it to her cellar yet?"

Frank Sergei nearly did a double-take. He stared towards Kari in disbelief. No... not after he had thought it out so much...

With a huge heave, he forced his foot out from the ice, and ran towards the Owl dormitories.

"Hey, where's Dr Sergei going?" Zulfequar remarked, staring at Dr Sergei's retreating figure.

"Who knows," Runaria Newbreak answered, she certainly didn't care right now with all the freezing things going on, and the only thing stopping her from keeling over were Zulfequar's claws lodged in the ice.

Dr Sergei barged into his office and grabbed a grappling hook, then, with a huge crash, threw the door to the owl dormitory wide open, panic etched all over his face. He raced down the halls until he found Derk's room, and threw the door wide open with his weight. To his horror, he saw the trapdoor to Derk's cellar wide open, and raced down the stairs.

He emerged at the bottom and narrowly avoided colliding with the wall. As virtual and actual reality were merged into one by his virtual reality field generator, Dr Sergei was able to get past Derk's security measures. He walked through the laser room as if it wasn't there. The door opened to his single command, and he rushed through the next room, into the room with the chasm, where he used his grappling hook to get across.

"Good, at least the trapdoor seems to have worked," he thought to himself, marvelling at how ingenious his creation was, and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Helloooo~~~~?" Sergei shouted into the trapdoor. "Having fun down t-"

A flaming shell from the trapdoor grazed his scalp and smashed into the ceiling of the chamber, forcing Dr Sergei backwards - Derk had lodged her gun into a nook into the trapdoor, and was in the process of climbing out using her whip as a makeshift rope, latching it on to crannies in the rock wherever she can. Upon hearing Dr Sergei's voice, she had instinctively fired a bazooka round at the entrance.

Dr Sergei stumbled backwards, avoiding the raining napalm from the ceiling. The virtual reality field control slipped from his hand and dropped to the floor. Unable to do anything with virtual reality to save himself, Sergei fell headfirst into the cavern, as Derk climbed out of the trapdoor.

"That was weird..." she said to herself, "Could have sworn heard someone...!"

She opened the final door, revealing a room full of torture tools and stained with blood - as if the people she brought here hadn't suffered enough already by the long journey - not to mention her singing. In a corner of the room was a large bag marked "Momo's", as well as a machine labelled "Virtual Reality Field Generator", but she only had eyes for the bag of momo fruits.

"There you are...!" she exclaimed with relief, grabbing the giant bag with ease and heading back out of the room, patting the skull of a skeleton chained to the wall as she left. The door slammed shut behind her, and she was left staring at the trapdoor.

"Don't remember putting a trapdoor there..." she thought to herself, oblivious to Dr Sergei's remote control sitting next to it. She threw her bag of momo fruits down next to the trapdoor - crushing the remote control in the process - and began to reset the security system as she began her journey out of the cellar.

* * *

The Owl Headmaster arrived at the gym to be greeted by his students, in teams of five, duelling each other. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except that Dr Sergei was nowhere in sight. He smiled to himself, and headed back to the Owl Campus.

Derk had managed to reset the security by this time, and resealed her cellar. She emerged from her dormitory room humming happily, and was on her way to the gym when she ran into the Headmaster.

"Is the lesson over...?" she asked the Headmaster, anxious for his reply.

"I'm not sure," the Headmaster replied. "It doesn't seem like it, but it looks like Dr Sergei ended it early. Why don't you go and have some fun?"

Derk took the Headmaster up on his word, and ran to join everyone in the gym.

The Owl Headmaster returned to the Dragon Headmaster on the hill.

"You know, I had my doubts about Sergei, but he seems to be a nice teacher," he said pleasantly. "The students are getting lots of practise, and seem to be enjoying themselves. I doubt they even realised the lesson was over!"

The Dragon Headmaster grunted his agreement. Dr Sergei didn't seem so bad after all.

* * *

Clink.

Frank Sergei's grappling hook came into contact with a jagged edge of a stalagmite.

The man himself heaved his body out of the chasm, and collapsed onto the floor in a heap.

And then he spotted the remains of his remote control.

To be thwarted again... by a mere oversight... no, not even that... everything would have worked... everything SHOULD have worked according to plan... thanks to one single oversight, delaying the repair work seemed to be that much further away...

Sergei's eyes began to emit an ominous red glow as fury coursed through his body.

"StrangerD3RK...

"YOU WILL PAY."


	4. Chapter 4 - Midnight Rendezvous

**Chapter 4 – Midnight Rendezvous**

Dr Sergei's first lesson was officially over, and the gym once again began to be emptied, restored to its former state. The collapsed scaffolding was in the state of being removed thanks to Dom, Zulfequar, Lushen, Viewtifulboi and a few others. Sturm was telling Tamani and Kilai about his time in solitary confinement, and Day and Bliss were trying to duel people left, right and centre, which resulted in the gym being emptied faster than usual.

Magics, Sahara and Kari found the Owl Headmaster in the Owl School campus - the Dragon Headmaster, for some reason, had decided to take "the scenic route" back to his own school.

"Hmm, a strange dream?" the Owl Headmaster looked puzzled. "And all three of you saw it?"

"Yeah," replied Magics, while behind him, the other two nodded, and the three of them began to describe the dream. When they mentioned Dr Victor's name, the Headmaster visibly went pale.

"Y-you really saw that?" He half-stammered. Dr Victor was the person responsible for the destruction of the previous world, but that was decades ago... Dr Victor would be an ancient geezer by now, if not dead.

"Oh, and there's something else. Right after we all had that dream, this Dr Sergei decides to come. When was the last time we had any new instructors? It was always either you, or Melanie and Mike, and Mike charges everyone a ton of Mar to come to his lessons, which always end in 'take care of yourself now, we don't want any more injuries,' which hasn't come true even once!"

"I'm sure Dr Sergei was just teaching you the way he teaches you. After all, Mike sends you into hard dungeons and wait til all of your gear is broken, right? That's just the way he teaches," the Owl Headmaster replied.

"I don't think that was teaching," Magics looked away, but the Owl Headmaster wouldn't hear another word.

"That's enough from you, Magics," he said, getting impatient. Every instructor has their own methods. Some may be a bit more eccentric than others, that's all."

"Then Dr Sergei must be bonkers," Sahara protested.

"He does seem a little weird," Kari noted.

"Not you two as well," the Owl Headmaster sighed in disbelief. "I'm sure you all have your favourite teachers and hated teachers, but loathing them to this extent is a bit too far, don't you think? Not another word," he spotted Magics opening his mouth in protest, and immediately closed it. "It's one thing to accuse teachers with proof, but you're working on a pure coincidence. I will not believe anything unless there is proof, and unless I see that proof, Dr Sergei is just another teacher with a unique teaching method. He's only been here a day, and I don't see anyone else saying anything about it. Give him a chance, ok?"

He walked away before anyone else can say another word.

Magics turned to the other two, furious.

"Just how _oblivious_ can you be?!" Magics shouted disbelievingly.

"He's right, though, we have no proof," Kari said.

"Then we'll just have to get some," Magics said determinedly. He wasn't about to go down without a fight. "Let's go back to the dormitory for now, then meet in my room at midnight."

Kari and Sahara looked a bit uneasy. It was especially difficult for Sahara to sneak across the gym at night, and the monsters become incredibly aggressive, making it more dangerous to travel by Greenville, but with some coercion from Jace's toaster and Kaly's chilled pies, Sahara was forced to give in.

"Fine," she said reluctantly, nursing the bump on her head with one hand, while eating a slice of pie with the other. But is it ok with just the three of us?"

"We'll try to ask around," Magics said. "More importantly, do you think you can make it here at around midnight? The gym gets really hard to sneak past at night, you know."

Sahara looked slightly distracted, but recovered her composure almost immediately, and confirmed that here would be no problems.

"Alright, see you tonight, then," replied Sahara, taking a bite out of thin air and applying the pie to her head as she disappeared in the direction of Dragon school.

"I'm glad Kaly isn't here to see this," Magics whispered to Kari as they both watched Sahara walk away, the juices of the pie trickling down her purple hair and staining it brown.

* * *

Dr Sergei grumbled as he retraced his steps out of Derk's cellar, and emerged in her dormitory, almost knocking into a huge pile of Momo fruits next to her bed from the dizzying staircase. Steadying himself, he quickly jumped out of her window, and landed deftly on the floor, as Magics and Kari entered the dormitory from the main entrance, asking anyone and everyone they could find for some help. Seizing his chance, he rolled into a nearby bush, and began to eavesdrop.

"Are you interested?" Magics asked a passing Yuumei, while Kari posed the same question to Max, but both were declined. On the other hand, Uii, Bui and Viewtifulboi were more than keen to take up the offer. The Captain overheard this, and also eagerly accepted. Cristina also resorted to accepting, with some bribery in the form of cookies.

Sergei grinned to himself. A midnight excursion for his sake? He couldn't be more flattered. Now if only he could find a reason to make their "outing" worthwhile...

* * *

The Dragon Headmaster walked down the yellow dirt road in Fortville, thinking deeply about the new instructor. Dr Sergei had told him that he had "big plans" for the students' mental and physical development. Just what these were exactly, he wasn't too sure. All he had to go on were Dr Sergei's own words to himself and his Owl counterpart.

"Hey," said a voice behind him. The Dragon Headmaster turned around, and there stood Dr Sergei, a casual grin on his face.

"Oh, it's you," the Dragon Headmaster seemed indifferent. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I've come up with my next lesson plan," Dr Sergei replied. The Dragon Headmaster looked astounded - it took himself at least a week to come up with one, meaning that the students had lots of free time.

"I'm afraid I'm going to need a volunteer from the audience..." Dr Sergei began.

"Good luck with that," the Dragon Headmaster began to walk away, but Dr Sergei stopped him.

"Come, come. A little participation won't kill you," Dr Sergei tried to persuade the Dragon Headmaster.

"I'm sure some of the students are more than willing to participate. After all, you'd have them experience any scenario, right? I'm a busy man, Frank. I have lots of things to organise, and repair work to oversee."

The Dragon Headmaster walked away along the path. Enraged, Dr Sergei took out a stun gun from his pocket, and threw it at the Dragon Headmaster. Caught unawares, the Dragon Headmaster collapsed on the ground, slightly burnt from where the stun gun had hit him on the neck.

Everything was now set in motion...

* * *

Sahara had rushed to TeamRocket's guild room inside the dormitory as fast as she could, where Pypski, Hatake, Day, Bliss, Hideki and a few others were discussing Dr Sergei's lesson, and how the charming powers of Day's inner bunny had worked wonders yet again, owing to the fact that the lesson had finished sooner than they had expected. A strong smell of Kaly's semi-frozen pie accompanied her in the room.

"Something smells good," DayBunny sat up, suddenly alert.

Disregarding Day's comment and the incredulous stares that she was getting, Sahara burst into explanation about the scheculed meeting with Magics that night.

"Sounds fun," Pypski agreed. "I'm not saying I believe anything Magics is saying, but Sergei did seem sort of odd ending the lesson like that. What time tonight?"

"Outside the owl dormitory, we're meeting Magics and his team there tonight, around midnight."

"Day, Bliss, Hatake, you're with me and Desert," Pypski immediately said, then looked around the room. "It can't hurt to bring a few more people..."

Her eyes scouted the room for people, then decided.

"Rooz, Nightwolf, Han, Ducky, and Rhainbow, you guys be on backup in case we need help."

"Got it," KnightofHan replied, while the other four nodded.

"Then let's meet up at 11pm outside the dormitory, then we can start making our way there."

"Oh, Desert, by the way," Pypski turned to Sahara, who looked back at her blankly.

"When did you dye your hair brown?"

* * *

Night stealthily crept over Kasmari as the students from Dragon School crept across the gym, avoiding being detected by the spotlights around its circumference, and keeping their voice low to avoid any voice-triggered alarms.

"What're you guys doing?" a voice suddenly yelled, causing alarms to blare across the gym.

Pypski whirled around suddenly, and saw Jace and Kalysto. Sighing in frustration, she gestured them to hurry up, and broke into a run, while the alarms wailed constantly. Upon reaching the narrow pathway leading up to Owl School, she suddenly gestured for everyone to press against the wall.

The door to Owl School opened, and Mecher Mike appeared, shining a fancy torch into the darkness. After making sure nobody was there, he shrugged and went back into the school.

"Can we ambush him? Please? Just this once?" Rhainbow pleaded. As much as everyone else wanted to, they couldn't risk restarting their progress.

"Let's go," signalled Pypski once the coast was clear, and the group hurried through the door leading to Owl School.

* * *

"What the..." Magics looked slightly shocked. "Sahara..."

"The more the merrier, right?" Pypski said, grinning.

"No... I mean, what happened to your hair?" Magics said, stifing a giggle, while the Captain looked away, and Viewtifulboi burst out laughing. Sahara fired a disruption field at Viewtifulboi, which hit him with so much impact that he was thrown into the air, unconscious before he hit the floor.

"Ah, I see you're all here," said a voice from the shadows. The door to the dormitory slammed shut, revealing Dr Sergei, who walked towards them slowly.

"Well, my students, you're just in time. I have a _special_ lesson planned out for you tonight! Now, follow me to the pilot. I have a treat planned for you!

"Oh, and I wouldn't dilly-dally if I were you. You can say that this is a matter... of life or death."

Almost immediately, he took another device from his pocket, and from it emitted a high-pitched shrill noise which caused the shielding devices to resonate intensely in their armour, causing their energy to drain.

"Where the heck does he even get those from?" Pypski whispered furiously. Dr Sergei seemed to have an infinite number of devices at hand, almost enough to rival Professor Lemerande and Dr Wong.

"If you don't want another taste of that, then follow me," sneered Frank Sergei.

The group followed Sergei into the Marble Plane, where he pressed a gun to the pilot's head.

"You know where to go," he grinned, before causing all the students to faint with his device.

* * *

After what seemed like forever, and the students found themselves on a platform surrounded by a giant pool of lava. Another look, and it became clear to them that they were in the mouth of a volcano. Cliff-like formations forming the top of the volcano cone towered above them, while the Dragon Headmaster, still stunned, was lying on his face in a cage over the lava.

"So, my dear students," came Dr Sergei's voice over a loudspeaker. "Welcome to the Skalari Arena of my secret testing lab. I have been willing to try this out for a long time now, so allow me to explain. Actually, the rules are simple. You have 30 minutes to eliminate all of the Skalari. If you successfully do so, then you can rescue your precious Headmaster. If you fail, however..."

At this point, he imitated the creak of the cage door opening.

"Splash!"

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!" Magics yelled in frustration.

"Up there!" Pypski pointed suddenly to a small house on the top of the volcano.

"It's too late now, we have to save the Headmaster first, or the ducks say there'll be trouble," Hideki noted.

"We'll save the Headmaster first, then expose Frank Sergei for the fraud he is," Hatake gritted his teeth, pulling out his claws.

"Are you ready?" came Dr Sergei's sneering voice. "Remember, 30 minutes... or splash!

"Of course, you're doing this all for the sake of academic practise and progress! If there are no more questions, then your time..

"Starts...

"NOW!"

A klaxon blared across the arena.


End file.
